Abstract

Big Power Competition, specifically the contestation between US and China, plays out on multiple arenas and has left significant impact on countries around the world. From the use of sanctions and controls in the clash of economic ambitions, to shifting military presence in the Asia-Pacific, and to competition for spheres of influence. Countries in the Asia-Pacific, and indeed the world, have irrefutably felt the reverberations of the intensified rivalry between the two big powers.

What is the existing status of US-China competition in the geopolitical, military, and economic arenas? What are the emerging sites of tension over the horizon? What are the emerging frontiers in the technological contestation between US and China?  And what implications do these have on the rest of the world?

The two speakers will cover the following topics:

1. Balance of Military Power in the Asia-Pacific in the Next Decade
2. Next Frontiers of US-China Tech Contestation

This webinar is part of a three-part series that explores Big Power competition and the rise of new powers, new and old vectors of contestation, the intersection of cyber and statecraft, and its implications on the global geopolitical, economic, military, and social landscapes.

About the Speaker

John Lee is director of consultancy East West Futures and a researcher at the Leiden Asia Centre. Previously he was a visiting fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, a senior analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, and worked at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Department of Defence. John focuses on China’s advanced technology industries, including semiconductors, telecoms and internet of things technologies, as well as China’s cyberspace regulation and engagement with global internet governance. He co-leads the China Semiconductor Observatory project funded by the European Union.

Drew Thompson is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

From 2011 to 2018, he was the Director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia in the Office of the Secretary of Defense where he was responsible for supporting the Secretary and managing military-to-military relations. He was previously the Director of China Studies and Starr Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest in Washington, D.C.  Prior to joining the Center, he was the National Director of the China-MSD HIV/AIDS Partnership in Beijing, a 5 year, $30 million HIV/AIDS program established by Merck & Co. and the Chinese Ministry of Health.  Mr. Thompson served previously as Assistant Director to the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).  He also was the president of a Washington, D.C. company that manufactured snack food in Qingdao, China. He lived in Shanghai from 1993 to 1998 where he was the General Manager of a U.S. freight forwarding and logistics firm, overseeing offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing.

About the Moderator

Teo Yi-Ling is Senior Fellow and Deputy Head of CENS at RSIS. She is engaged in researching strategies of national cybersecurity resilience, data protection and governance regimes, online regulation regimes, topics in economic security, and ethics and governance related to artificial intelligence and disruptive technology, with a view to informing policy responses for Singapore’s national security.